Witness says she barely missed hitting pedestrian killed on I-290

Joyce E. Chambers was heading home from church last night, a drive she makes often, and was gliding along Interstate 290 in her sport utility vehicle when she suddenly had to hit the brakes.

“I saw this guy standing on the side of the road, and he started running across,” the 71-year-old Worcester woman said today. “I slammed on my brakes, and he made it around me.”

Mrs. Chambers swerved, putting her Toyota Rav4 into the grass near the left eastbound lane she had been driving in between the Belmont Street (Route 9) exit and the I-290/I-190 split.

The man, who has not yet been identified by state police, made it past Mrs. Chambers' SUV by a matter of feet, according to her estimate.

“The driver on the side of me — she had no chance of avoiding him,” Mrs. Chambers said. “He ran right in front of the driver.”

There was a loud thump, and the noise of the screeching brakes. Mrs. Chambers saw items fly into the air. She thought the articles probably came from a plastic bag the man was carrying.

Troopers at the Holden barracks began receiving several calls about a man walking up the Lincoln Street on-ramp toward the interstate minutes before the accident, which occurred shortly after 8 p.m.

“As troopers were responding to the area to look for the man, a motorist called to report that she had struck the pedestrian,” state police said in a news release. The man had died on scene.

The driver of the 2011 Toyota Highlander was driving east on I-290 when she hit the pedestrian, state police said. The driver, a 51-year-old Worcester woman, pulled over into the breakdown lane and called police. She was not injured. State police did not identify her. As of this afternoon no charges have been filed against the woman.

“Evidence suggests the pedestrian had first entered the highway in the westbound lane and then crossed onto the eastbound side,” state police said. “After he was struck, he came to rest in the right travel lane.”

Mrs. Chambers said the victim had climbed over the highway divider and just started running.

This morning, she drove back by the scene of the accident and continued to wonder why the man was running across the heavily traveled interstate.

“I couldn't believe a man was in the middle of the road,” she said. “He never looked for traffic. He just started running across. Thank goodness I missed him.”

Mrs. Chambers believes that if the man had been walking, she would have been the one to hit him.